The Battalion
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Tuesday, June 24, 1980
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
Federal judge dismisses
portion of Zentgraf suit
from the tournament, held last Friday-
Sunday at Texas A&M, see page 5.
Staff photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
by BECKY SWANSON
Battalion Staff
Portions of the sex discrimination suit filed by
former cadet Melanie Zentgraf against Texas A&M
University last year have been dismissed by U.S.
District Judge Ross Sterling.
In a memorandum filed June 4, Sterling ruled
that monetary damages cannot be awarded in the
case unless approved by the Legislature since the
University is related so closely to the State of Texas
as to be a part of the state.
However, Zentgraf does have “cognizable”
claims under the equal protection clause of the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Sterling
said.
In the 18-page ruling. Sterling also said he would
consider the University’s plea for exemption from
Title IX. The University contends the Corps falls
under an exemption granted organizations whose
purpose is to train military personnel.
Title IX is the federal government’s regulation
prohibiting sex discrimination in institutions re
ceiving federal funds.
The class-action suit, filed by Zentgraf on behalf
of herself and other female cadets at Texas A&M
University, charges that Texas A&M University;
Dr. Jarvis E. Miller, Texas A&M president; Dr.
JohnJ. Koldus, vice president for student services;
Col. James R. Woodall, commandant of the Corps
and Robert J. Kamensky, then Corps commander,
violated federal and state statutory and constitu
tional provisions by excluding women from several
Corps-affiliated organizations.
The suit names the Ross Volunteers, Parsons’
Mounted Cavalry, the Aggie Band, Rudder’s Ran
gers, the Fish Drill Team and the Brigade Color
Guard as organizations women are excluded from.
The suit also maintains “that Defendants have
declined to implement non-discriminatory policies
towards women and that Defendants have perpetu
ated discriminatory practices and encouraged
harassment of the female members of the Corps of
Cadets.”
The Justice Department originally would have
had to defend Woodall in the suit, since he is a
federal employee. However, in November 1979,
the department arranged to have Woodall dropped
as a defendant so that it would be free to intervene
in the case on Zentgraf s behalf.
Sterling ruled that the University was created by
the State, is governed by appointees of the gov-
Sterling also invalidated a
Justice Department request
to compel Texas A&M to
require female
undergraduates the
opportunity to receive
military training.
ernor, and therefore the State is the party at in
terest in the suit.
The 11th Amendment to the Texas Constitution
prohibits the award of monetary damages in federal
court against the State or its agencies, unless the
State has consented. Sterling said.
Koldus said it was his understanding that Zent
graf can still pursue monetary damages against the
individual defendants, but negligence of constitu
tional or statutory law would have to be proven.
Sterling ruled that “to establish personal liabil
ity, (a plaintiff) must demonstrate that the official in
question knew or should have known that the ac
tions taken in his official capacity would violate the
Plaintiff’s constitutional rights, or that the action
was taken with malicious intention to so deprive or
inflict other injury.”
The defense requested an exemption from Title
IX under a federal statute which establishes an
exemption for any educational institution with the
primary purpose of training individuals for the
military services of the United States.
Sterling said, “The statute provides that in inst
ances where an institution is composed of more
than one school, college, or department, which
are administratively separate units, each such unit
is considered to be an educational institution.
“To qualify for exemption ... the Corps of Cadets
of Texas A&M University must meet the following
prerequisites: (1) the Corps must qualify ... as an
‘educational institution’ within the University; and
(2) the Corps must have the primary purpose of
training individuals for the military services of the
United States.”
Sterling also invalidated a Justice Department
request to compel the University to comply with a
federal statute requiring that any “military col
lege,” in order to maintain that designation, pro
vide qualified female undergraduates the oppor
tunity to receive military training. The judge said
the statute in question conferred no powers upon
the Justice Department.
Sterling said although the statute requires en
rollment of female cadets, the regulation only re
quires non-discrimination “with respect to admis
sion to the institution ... on the basis of race, color,
or national origin,” providing “no basis for specific
enforcement” with reference to sex.
Sterling also said he interpreted a defendants’
motion as a request for partial summary judgment,
and gave all parties an additional 45 days to submit
all material pertinent to such a motion.
hurchgoers believed
ssault ‘anotherprogram
United Press International
iINGERFIELD — Dressed in com-
ear and armed with four guns, former
teacher Alvin Lee King III brought
m" to the First Baptist Church,
e he had sought character witnesses
s incest trial, police say.
is accused of killing five people and
iding 10 others in the Sunday morning
(on the congregation. King under
surgery Monday at a Galveston hos-
for a head wound: the last shot he
came on the lawn of a fire station and
lirected at his head,
ng, 45, burst into the church auditor-
Sunday morning, announced “this is
[and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle,
te said. Many of the worshipers first
light King was part of skit to dramatize
day’s sermon, similar to a program last
when some of the church’s teen-agers
ssed as Nazis and pretended to invade
thurch.
it King’s appearance was no act and a
(ear-old woman and a 7-year-old girl
^killed before he could be wrestled out
fe building.
fece on the front lawn King pulled a
taliber pistol, officers said, and killed
men who had tried to subdue him. A
person died hours later in a nearby
ital, and 10 others were wounded in
did outburst, which lasted less than a
ite.
ng then went across the street to a fire
station and shot himself in the head. He
was sent in stable condition to a Tyler hos
pital, where his wound, a slight graze, did
not require immediate surgery.
Police Monday continued interviewing
residents and King’s wife to learn more
about his motives and determine where he
obtained his arsenal.
Dan Gilmore, a minister and music edu
cation director at the church, said church
officials had no explanation for King’s ac
tions.
However, Morris County Attorney Bill
Porter said King, described by a former
student as an atheist, had asked several
members of First Baptist, the largest
“...he had pulled a pistol
and I started crawling for
the stairs. ”
church in the town of2,600, to testify in his
behalf at his incest trial, scheduled to begin
Monday in nearby Sulphur Springs.
King, who once taught at Daingerfield
High School, was indicted in October 1979
in a 1977 incest incident involving his
daughter, who was then 18.
“I had heard that he had approached
several members of the congregation and
asked them to testify,” Porter said. “I know
of one incident specifically where the per
son said they wouldn’t (testify). I don’t
know if anyone had agreed to be a witness
or not. ”
King’s wife, Gretchen, said he tied her
up and left the house Sunday about 9 a.m.
without hurting her. He showed up at the
church at 11:20 a.m., in the middle of the
congregation’s second hymn, wearing
Army fatigues, a helmet and a bulletproof
vest. He las armed with an AR-15 with
bayonet and scope, a bayonet-equipped M-
1, a .22-caliber pistol and a .38-caliber
pistol.
Church member Chris Hall, who had
been in King’s math class about eight years
ago, was seated in the back of the auditor
ium, where King entered.
“He opened the door with his gun and it
made a loud noise when he did it,” Hall
said. “Immediately he started firing. He
got off about six shots before I could get a
hold of the gun.
“I wrestled him back to the lobby and got
the gun (the rifle) from him but lost my
balance and fell back,” Hall said. “I looked
up and he had pulled a pistol and I started
crawling for the stairs.”
All three shots at Hall missed but two
men who rushed to his aid were killed.
“Last year the preacher was going to talk
about communism and religion and before
the sermon started, a bunch of men wear
ing uniforms came bursting into the sanctu
ary,” said Arthur Greaves. “So this time we
just thought it was another program.”
Western leaders produce
nergy accord at summit
United Press International
'ENICE, Italy — Western leaders agreed Monday on a new
»to decrease dependency on oil over the next 10 years and
Mop new sources of energy — including the nuclear field.
TTiis strategy requires conserving oil and substantially increas-
production and use of alternative energy sources,” the leaders
ie United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Italy and
St Germany said in a joint declaration ending their two-day
Qmit
Die allied leaders, who canceled their final afternoon meeting
Suse they finished their work early, expressed skepticism
iday about a Soviet pledge to withdraw its troops from Afgha-
tan.
Resident Carter called the Soviet invasion “a profound
atilt.”
ds part of their new plan, the seven nations called for doubling
J production by the early 1990s and expanding nuclear energy
Auction, while indirectly calling on the United States and
aada to increase domestic fuel prices to the world level.
Hie allied leaders said the reduction of inflation “is our immedi-
! top priority,” even at the cost of increased unemployment and
itical difficulties.
Hieir joint declaration said boosting prices should be used
erever possible as the best means of limiting demand for
! ergy.
The economic message from this Venice summit is clear, ” the
communique said. “The key to success in resolving the major
economic challenges which the world faces is to achieve and
maintain a balance between energy supply and demand at reason
able levels and at tolerable prices.”
“The 1970s were turbulent but the 1980s might be even more
challenging,” Carter told reporters after the summit. “Our free
doms are at risk.”
The president, who was scheduled to leave today for Yugosla
via, the next stop on his eight-day European trip, spoke of the
world’s “enormous coal resources” which he said were six to eight
times greater than its oil resources. Both he and others expressed
confidence the energy-economic growth link could be severed.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the purpose of
the new energy plan was “to reduce our dependence on oil and
make ourselves less vulnerable to the acts of others.”
Despite a summit document condemning diplomatic hostage
taking, there was no specific mention of Iran or the 53 American
hostages held there for 234 days. Conference sources said Carter
wanted to avoid naming Iran because he preferred to keep the
situation low key and because it was felt accusing Iran would
weaken the hand of moderates there.
The allied leaders also agreed not to build any oil-fired
electrical plants save in “exceptional circumstances” and en
couraged such existing facilities to switch to other fuels.
They also pledged to speed up research for fuel-efficient vehi
cles by increasing the price of gasoline, introducing new taxation
policies and improving public transportation.
A&M’s first grad
Navasota man researches the life of Will Brown
by DEBBIE NELSON
Battalion Stall
When William Harrison Brown be
came the first titled graduate of the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas 100 years ago, he couldn’t have
anticipated the Navasota mayor naming
a day in his honor or his Victorian home
sporting a Texas Historical Marker.
In 1880, Brown was the first titled
graduate of Texas A&M, Bob Pierson
says, as he was the first student to com
plete a full four-year degree program
after the school’s 1876 opening.
Pierson, who purchased Brown’s old
home in December, has done extensive
research on Will Brown and his 1884
residence. Currently Pierson is com
pleting the paperwork for a Texas His
torical Marker application. He hopes to
have the marker granted by next year.
Navasota Mayor Artie Fultz Davis
signed a proclamation several weeks ago
naming June 23 as “Will Brown Day,” in
honor of the 100th anniversary of their
former resident’s graduation from Texas
A&M.
Pierson, although not an Aggie him
self, takes pride in researching his
home’s former owner. Pierson talks of
Brown as if they were close friends.
After Brown graduated from Texas
A&M, Pierson said, he obtained a law
degree in St. Louis. Brown returned to
his hometown to establish a law practice
and later became the Navasota post
master.
Pierson said Brown, “a regimental
sort,” was a well-known, unique, figure
in Navasota.
“He built his own coffin and stored it
under his bed, ” Pierson said. “He really
kept it under his bed and stored com in
it. Later he moved it and stored it in the
bam.
“But he was buried in it when he
died. Someone will probably make an
Aggie joke out of that. ”
Although no special events were
scheduled in Navasota for Monday’s
first “Will Brown Day,” Pierson said
Brown had established a tradition of
staging special events on his property.
Pierson would like to see the tradition
re-established.
For example, every Fourth of July
Brown invited the whole town to a pic
nic. Parades began on Brown’s proper
ty, proceeded downtown and ended
back at the Brown house. Circuses in
Navasota also were also set up on the
Brown land.
Several sources agree Brown was in
deed the first graduate of Texas A&M.
An 1879-1880 Texas A&M catalogue
lists 1880 graduates, with Brown first,
followed by the only other graduate in
his class, Louis John Kopke. Both were
civil engineering majors. The only ap
parent reason Brown was the first
graduate rather than Kopke was that
Brown’s name was first alphabetically.
However, Texas A&M history profes
sor Dr. Henry Dethloff said he is “furth
er than satisfied” Brown claims the title,
^ if only because his name appears first in
several publications. Dethloff has writ
ten a two-volume history of the Univer
sity.
Dethloff said both graduates gave
commencement addresses to the appro
ximately 500 cadets enrolled at Texas
A&M at that time.
Grades for the two graduates don’t
exist, Denthloff said, to determine
which of the two was the best student.
The Association of Former Students
has presented Pierson with a letter rec
ognizing Brown as the first Texas A&M
graduate. Brown was a founding mem
ber of the association, also established
on his graduation day.
Pierson said Pam Puryear, a histo
rian, is helping find information for the
historical marker application. Puryear
has helped obtain markers for several
other Navasota buildings.
Pierson began actively researching
Brown’s history when the home was in
the Navasota Nostalgia Tour last April.
“I wasn’t happy with anything anyone
told me, ” Pierson said. “I wanted to find
it in black and white.”
He has. Pierson has an original gra
duation photograph of Brown in uni
form, plus accounts from a Houston,
newspaper and the Collegiate, the
Texas A&M student newspaper. He is
now looking for an original copy of
Brown’s graduation program.
Brown’s home looks relatively the
same today as it did in 1884, except for a
few modernizations like wiring, plumb
ing and a few coats of paint. Pierson
plans to remove the carpeting presently
on the floors to reveal the original, wide-
boarded hardwood floors underneath.
The two-story Victorian home was
given to Brown and his wife, Eliza
Camp, as a wedding gift from her father,
Malcolm Camp who “owned half of
Navasota,” according to Pierson. Be
cause of its all-white exterior and ging
erbread trim, Camp called the structure
“the wedding cake house.”
r